Unravelling the Past

Raj sat back in the van, letting out a deep breath, his mind still wrapped in memories of Sofia. He had only just begun when his friend, sitting across from him, rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Come on, Raj! We get it. Sofia’s the most beautiful woman in the world, and you fell for her hard. But can you skip that part? We already know you love her, and Billy ruined your life. Man, we’ve been suffering through your sad love story for ages. Get to the point already.”

Raj shot him a look, his annoyance clear. His jaw tightened, but he held back from snapping at him. “If you want to hear what happened, let me talk.”

The friend held up his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, alright, no need to get all touchy. Just… move on from the Sofia worship.”

Raj sighed, rubbing his temples, then continued. “So, like I was saying, slowly, we started spending more time together. I’d see her at the park, then we’d grab something to eat, maybe play some games at the arcade. It was… innocent at first. Wings, shopping, just hanging out. But I could tell—Sofia was opening up to me. She felt safe, like she could trust me.”

He paused, remembering how she had confided in him one evening as they strolled through the park, golden light filtering through the trees. She looked so vulnerable then, and Raj had felt that surge of protectiveness, mixed with something more.

“She told me about her husband,” Raj continued, his voice soft but carrying the bitterness of the memory. “That’s when I first heard his name. Billy.”

The name hung in the air, and the tension in the van thickened.

Raj’s grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles white. “Sofia said Billy was boring. That he didn’t look after her the way she deserved. No wild fun, no excitement. He just worked and focused on growing their family. He did everything by the book, everything… safe.”

Raj’s voice dropped, and his face twisted in disbelief. “I was shocked. How could a guy treat someone like Sofia that way? I mean, look at her! She’s the most stunning woman I’d ever seen, and he couldn’t be bothered to make her feel special? What kind of man—”

“Hold on, hold on,” one of Raj’s friends interrupted, raising his eyebrows. “Did you just say that Billy takes her shopping, to the movies, restaurants, and even on holidays?”

Raj nodded slowly, unsure where his friend was going with this.

The guy scoffed, throwing his hands up. “Man, what more does she want? How much more care is a man supposed to take? If he’s taking her on trips and making time for all that, sounds like Billy ain’t the problem.”

Raj’s eyes darkened. “You’re talking about my wife.”

His friend shrugged, unfazed. “No, no, I’m talking about Billy’s ex-wife.”

“Alright, can you guys stop?” another one of Raj’s friends cut in, sounding irritated. “Let’s hear what happened next without all the interruptions.”

Raj leaned back, his eyes narrowing as he recalled those moments in the park. “At first, I was just happy to spend time with her, you know? I wanted to be the guy she could count on, the one who’d make her smile. And I did. We got closer. A lot closer. My conversations were flirty, sure. I let her know I’d treat her like a queen, not like some trophy on a shelf that Billy didn’t appreciate.”

Raj paused, his voice dipping lower. “But there was more. I wasn’t just there to make her feel better. I saw an opening. She was vulnerable, and I knew if I played my cards right, I could win her over. I wanted her to leave Billy for me.”

His friends exchanged uneasy glances. They’d all seen Raj obsessed before, but this was different. This was darker, more calculated.

Raj let out a slow breath, the weight of his confession hanging in the air. “And then… one day, she told me. She wanted out. She was going to leave Billy.”

A flicker of satisfaction crossed Raj’s face. But there was something else too. A shadow of doubt that even now, he couldn’t fully shake.

“Everything was falling into place. Sofia was ready to move on from her boring life with Billy, and I was going to be the one she’d move on to.”

Raj’s voice trailed off, the memory turning bitter in his mouth. His friend, the one who’d been the most impatient, leaned forward. “So… what happened next? When did Billy find out?”

Raj clenched his fists. “That’s where everything went wrong. That’s when I found out the truth about Billy, and why this whole mess is his fault.”

© Nil | 2024